I'm Never Going To Leave Your Side
by Flower Of The Slum
Summary: Sequel to Love Hurts, Claire is ill and Leon takes her to the hospital. They find out it's not a normal bug -Leon x Claire, Chris x Jill- Could contain some RE5 spoilers
1. Chapter 1

"Leon, I don't feel so good!" Claire groaned as she walked slowly to the living room where Leon was happily watching a football match.  
"Awwh come on. The amount of chilli you've been eating lately will probably be the reason." He laughed, taking his legs down from the sofa so Claire could sit next to him.  
"I don't think it's that..." She mumbled while rubbing her belly, she did look very pale. Her usual bright blue eyes seemed dull and lifeless and her hair was loosely hung onto her shoulders and looked as if she hadn't combed it yet.  
"Well, it could be a bug? A lot have been going around lately." Leon shook his head at the red head. He then grabbed her neck and pulled her tightly to his stomach, he knew a cuddle would cure her blues. "How about I take you to the doctors tomorrow if you don't feel any better?" He smiled, stroking her hair softly, the smell of strawberries slowly crept up his nose while doing so.  
"Ok..." She whimpered, tightly pulling herself near him and burrowing her head near his chest. Claire always felt safer being so close to Leon; she didn't need anyone else, just his love and affection.

Claire had soon drifted a sleep, Leon knew there must have been something up with her. She never slept hardly; the nightmares had always been too intense for her to be able to try. He looked at his watch and noticed it was pretty late and he was also more tired than he thought; he carried Claire in his strong arms and put her to bed he then took a shower and then climbed in beside her.

The past few days had been so tiresome for the two, Chris and Jill had decided with one days notice to land at Leon and Claire's new house. More like Chris trying to keep an eye on Leon. So they had to rush out and buy things for the guest room they hadn't even started to decorate. They managed somehow to paint and set up the bedroom decent enough before Chris and Jill arrived but then they cancelled.

"Duty calls!" Chris babbled down the phone, hanging up quickly before Claire could implode at him. Leon knew now why she had red hair; she had a fiery temperament to match.

"Leon... I don't feel so goo-" Claire gagged while she pulled the sheets off of her and Leon, she ran out of the bedroom, wearing a vest top and shorts (her normal night time clothes). The cold air hit Leon causing him to groan in annoyance and turn to face the clock.  
"Claire come on! It's three in the mornin'" He moaned while his stormy blue eyes tried to adjust to the darkness. After he lay on the bed, on his back, stretched out as far as his hands would go, he waited for a couple of minutes just listening. He heard Claire puking down the toilet, something Claire rarely did, she hardly ever got sick. After the Raccoon City outbreak, Leon and Claire got loads of injections for anything and everything just to be sure, so it wasn't like she could catch a regular virus.

The sound never went away, just Claire grasping for air and more sick noises were heard.  
"Hmmph.." Leon said quietly to himself trying to think what to do, being half asleep didn't help his brain think faster then he wanted it too. He decided to check on her and try and calm her down. If he didn't he knew Chris would probably be on his case, he never understood how Chris found out as much as he did. Maybe he had bugged the house?

"Claire, you alright?" He knew she would bite back at that remark, of course she was feeling fine and fabulous right now.  
"Does it sound it?" She managed to spit out between being sick.  
"Sweetheart, do you want to go to the hospital?"  
"I hate the hospital!" Leon laughed at her. She had the most ridiculous fears, she could tackle zombies, mutant plants, but she would never go to the hospital even if she was in so much pain.  
"Come on Claire you don't want Chris on my case?" He had to try anything to win her over now, he couldn't bear hearing people being ill especially someone he deeply cared about and loved. He knew the Chris threat would work; she hated her brother preying on her private life.  
"...Leoooooon!" Claire shouted.  
"I'll get a bucket and some clothes for you to put on ok?" Leon told her and patted her shoulder in comfort. He quickly darted into the bedroom and got dressed, putting random things on as fast as he could. He then began to search for something for Claire to wear; he pulled out a plain black t-shirt and some denim jeans.

"Here, put this on while I look for a bucket." Leon smiled, while putting Claire's clothes on the floor nearby her.  
"Thanks!" Claire waved towards him with her hand; her face was still down the toilet as she gagged.

He soon came back putting the bucket near her, she seemed to be dressed now but still continued to be sick.  
"Come on, I'll carry you just make sure the buckets near you at all times." Leon chuckled; she turned around and stuck her tongue at him. He took that as a hint not to try and joke around. He carried her like a wedding type lift and put her in the passenger's seat, while Leon drove to the hospital.


	2. Chapter 2

"Leon you really should phone Chris." Claire smiled while turning to face Leon, her and Leon where currently in the hospital, sat in the waiting room. Apparently Saturday's was the worst night to be ill, drunks and druggies had took all the beds, so there was no room for Claire. Leon had told them about how he was the bodyguard for the president but he forgot his I.D at home so they didn't believe him. He had threatened them but all they cried was, first come first serve, so here they both where stuck in a hospital. Claire's worst nightmare came true and she was still being sick in the bucket.

"Hah! You want me to be killed?" Leon chuckled; Claire began to give him the death stare.  
"Honey, I know you hate hospitals and all, but do I really have to phone Chris?"  
"He's my brother, he deserves to know." She replied, Leon could tell how uncomfortable she was feeling. Claire was jumpy and couldn't sit still and her breathing was a lot harder. Leon just wanted to do anything to calm her down and try to get her to relax. Even if it meant her big brother coming to snap his neck.  
"I'm just going outside, please try and relax." Leon smiled towards Claire, and then gave her a peck on the lips.

"Hey Chris, Claire's a bit ill." Leon said down the phone, he knew he should try and make it seem almost nothing because Chris exaggerated everything, just like his sister.  
"How is she ill?" He hastily replied down the phone, Leon could picture him running to his car now ready to come see Claire.  
"Mmm. She just keeps being sick, I'm at the hospital now but it's gonna take ages for them to see to her."  
"You are the bodyguard of the president; can't you pull out some stunts for them to see her faster?" Chris answered back screaming down the phone.  
"I forgot my I.D at home; I was in a rush to take her I didn't think about bringing that."  
"You're such a smart ass Kennedy! I'm coming now to see her and don't you dare think of leaving her by herself." Chris must have hung up because all Leon could hear was the dial tone.  
"Shit!" Leon said to himself, he hated Chris being on his back.

By the time he got back to the waiting room he noticed Claire was no longer there. A blonde nurse noticed Leon looking around the room and walked next to him.  
"You lost?" She asked him while fluttering her eyelashes. It was obvious she had an attraction towards him, but he loved Claire's red fiery hair and blondes didn't seem to do anything for him.  
"My girlfriend was here a moment ago, do you know where they took her?" With the word girlfriend the nurse immediately stopped flirting and fluttering her eyelashes.  
"The red head with the bucket?" She grinned sarcastically, Leon nodded in conferment.  
"If you follow me, I'll show you." She winked and started to walk down a corridor. After going by many doors she finally came to a stop. "She's in here." Then she walked off.

Leon opened the door to see Claire was already settled lying on the hospital bed and a nurse was busy checking to her.  
"I got through to Chris; he said he's coming soon." Leon smiled and took an empty chair next to the bed. Claire nodded his way, she was too busy trying to see what the nurse was doing to her.  
"You are?" The nurse asked politely, she was completely different to the nurse before. She looked in her mid fifties with grey hair tied up in a bun.  
"I'm her boyfriend, Leon." Leon smiled, while trying to adjust to the hard seat.  
"I'm Mary and we will try our hardest to do anything to settle her stomach and then find out what's wrong." She smiled sweetly, she handed some tablets to Claire. "Take these; they should help with the sickness." Claire did as she was told and the nurse handed a cup of water for her to rinse the tablets down.  
"Ok now we are going to take a blood test."  
"A BLOOD TEST!" Claire shouted, oh God Leon thought to himself, now she's done it.  
"Yes my love, it will be over quicker than you think."  
"No! Please! Leon tell her?!" Claire sobbed looking towards Leon.  
"Claire honey, if you want to know what's wrong with you you're gonna have to do it." He then grabbed her nearest hand and squeezed it in support.  
"....Oook..." She eventually agreed, her eyes were watering a tiny bit in fear but she knew it was for the best.

The nurse quickly took the blood from her arm and walked off, leaving Claire and Leon to talk in private.  
"See, you did good." He told Claire, stroking her hand. "It's good to see your no longer puking your guts out." He smirked, causing a Redfield death stare face him.  
"Awwh sweetheart, don't be like that. I just want you to get better." She seemed to be even paler then before, something Leon didn't like the look of. He was now generally scared for his partner.  
"Leon I'll be fine, I've survived worst things than this." She smiled, causing his heart to flutter. Even when she was ill she looked so beautiful. She'd always be the only women for him, no matter what age he got too. He could never see himself with anyone else, not now, not ever.  
"Leon, why are you looking at me like that?" She giggled, he didn't notice when he was lost in his thoughts he had been starting at her with such care and worry.  
"No reason, do you want anything?" He asked her while kissing her hand.  
"No, I just want to know what's wrong and to get out of this dump." She grinned then began to lean back in the chair, which was then spoilt by Chris running loudly into the room.  
"Kennedy, I swear to God! If you've done anything to my sister!" He balled, pulling Leon up by the scruff of the neck.  
"Chris cool it!" Jill Valentine followed in behind Chris pulling him away from Leon, she looked a lot different from the last time Leon had seen her. She now had light blonde hair and it was shoulder length, she seemed a lot more feminine then her past self.  
"Thanks Jill." Leon tutted, he the rearranged his shirt and sat back down on the chair. "The nurse just took her bloods, so hopefully we'll find whatever's wrong with her soon." Chris shook his head and pulled another seat out right next to Leon and close to Claire's bed. Jill sat on the edge of the bed, looking worriedly towards Claire.  
"You no it's probably just a bug." Claire smiled; Jill took the hand Leon had been holding before Chris rudely interrupted.  
"Yeah you're right..." Jill replied and faked a smile. She and Chris already knew that wasn't a possibility. Claire had, had a lot more injections for illness then they could count on their fingers and toes. A bug wasn't likely. Just as she was stuck in mid thoughts the nurse Mary walked in holding a chart in her hand.


	3. Chapter 3

"So what's up Doc?" Chris giggled to himself; no one else seemed to think it was funny because everyone in the room stared at him in disgust.  
"It's nothing to be worried about." She smiled while looking around the room. Everyone wanted to know what was wrong, they were anxious and on the edge of their seats. Especially Claire and Leon. "It's good news really, but it depends on how you look at it. Is it ok if I speak to you and Leon alone?" The nurse asked politely looking towards Claire.  
"Chris come on." Jill pulled the big muscle lump from the chair and walked outside the room. Leon laughed while she did so; he loved having one other Chris. "Well the blood tests confirm you're pregnant."  
"WHAT?" Leon and Claire both screamed at the same time, looking at each other as if it couldn't be true.  
"Congratulations to both of you. Well I'll leave you to think about what you're going to do next." The nurse then exited the room. Leaving both of them gobsmacked with their mouths wide open, hitting the floor.  
"Claire?" Leon eventually uttered after a couple of minutes being in silence.  
"That has to be wrong... But it does make sense..."  
"But how?" Leon asked again, he was sure that they had took the right precautious before doing it.  
"I really don't know, but you do hear these things happening." She smiled; her eyes shone a brighter blue then the past couple of days. "It's hard to believe, I might be a mom." Claire giggled at the sound of that and Leon also smiled. He was going to be a Dad? He pulled Claire's hands into his palms and carefully kissed them. She stared at him while he did this, blushing slightly. Leon was a true gentleman.  
"Can we keep it then?" She asked carefully but serious. Tightly grabbing Leon's hand back.  
"Why not? I mean with my current wage and all, I'm sure it will be enough to support the little fella." He chuckled, pulling his hands away from Claire and patting her stomach.  
"And what makes you think it's gonna be a boy?"  
"Just a hunch." He smiled, "Shit what's Chris gonna say?" Leon cursed out loud, just thinking about telling Chris he could hear his back crunch.  
"Well, I dunno...He has to know now...." Claire's smile faded, she wanted to keep this baby so much. Even though she had just found out her bundle of joy growing inside of her she felt it was a part of her now. Completing her and Leon's love.  
"I'll go get him" Leon tutted while walking up, "this should be fun." He muttered to himself while opening the door.  
"Leon, be gentle on him okay?"  
"Yeah, don't worry baby." He nodded while he walked out in the corridor.

"Chris, Jill, can you come in the room now." Leon smirked, this should be one hell of a ride.  
"KENNEDY! I don't know why you're smirking for but if it's anything bad, I will put you six feet underground!" Chris balled, pushing Leon out the way and walking up to his sister. Jill shook her head while she followed him in the room.  
"Chris, please." She muttered loud enough only for her and Chris to hear.  
"Bear with me, bear with me..." Chris replied back sitting on the end of the bed, obviously he was expecting to hear what the news was straight away, kill Leon and then head home. Jill sat on the bed just a couple of inches away from Claire and began to play with her crimson red hair, combing it and tucking it behind her ear. This seemed to calm Claire down; Jill had that effect on her. Jill seemed to realise that Claire and Leon did actually have feelings too, rather than being a raw piece of meat dangling in front of him for him to pound.  
"Ok well, do you want to know?"  
"For God sake's Claire just tell me already!" Chris shouted, punching the bed beneath him. Claire knew he cared deep down, but he had such a funny way of showing it, sometimes she wished he would relax.  
"I'm pregnant." Claire said while clenching her teeth, grounding them backwards and forwards waiting for what Chris had to say.  
"You're kidding me sis?" Chris laughed, "Good one! So tell me, what's the news?" He smiled, he had this one sussed or so he thought.  
"No Chris, I'm pregnant."  
"No way!"  
"Chris calm down, it's a nice thing." Jill interrupted him, pulling at his arm. Causing him to stare into Jill's eyes.  
"Kennedy, I swear to God!"  
"CHRIS JUST CALM DOWN!" Jill now shouted at him, pulling at his arm harder. "I think we should go." Jill nodded towards Claire, hugged her and then pulled Chris out the room with her. Chris was still in shock, Claire and Leon both noticed, if he wasn't as shocked Claire knew Leon's brains would be on the wall behind her by now, including her own.  
"That went better than I thought." Leon smiled, now sitting where Jill had just been. "We should wait for the nurse and ask her what to do before we go. I've never really been in this circumstance before and I want to get it this right for the first time in my life." Claire smiled when she heard this and then Leon began to pat her belly, with Claire putting her hands on top of his.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ooooh it hurts so bad..." Claire groaned stroking her baby bump with her hands she was currently lying in between Leon's legs trying to breathe through the pain.  
"I'm sure it's not supposed to hurt so much this little in, you wanna see the Doc again?" Leon asked her calmly but his eyes showed a different story they were full of worry and pain for his girlfriend.  
"Leon it's just a hot flush they normally wear off after a while." She grinned, while tucking a loose strand of her chestnut coloured hair behind her ear. Her forehead was trickling with sweat beads, if this hurt her she couldn't bear to think of how the labour was going to be. But then she thought of the wonderful miracle what was now inside of her made by the sweet love her and Leon shared. She couldn't help but smile throughout the pain; this was finally the one normal thing she wanted.

Claire loved how much Leon worried over her and their baby, sometimes it was all too unreal how much he was doing, but she couldn't wish for anything more, a supportive boyfriend who would be there for her every minute of the day, holding her hand, calming her soul. Even Chris now had seemed to see the good side of it; his sister was finally living a fantasy instead of a nightmare. Chris and Jill came over quite often to check up on her, always Jill talking about baby names and boring the two men to death.

"Claire you want something cool to drink?" Leon brought Claire out of her dream world, which brought her back to the pain she was feeling and the over powering heat.  
"That would be nice." She smiled back gritting her teeth while doing so.  
"The scans tomorrow right?" He asked while walking towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of coke and walking back over to the sofa.  
"Yeah, you excited?"  
"Of course I am." He replied handing the cool bottle to her, he could tell that Claire didn't expect it to be as cold as it was because she shivered when she grabbed it. "At least that will cool you down." Leon grinned which set her too stick her tongue out at him.

The next day was mayhem, Leon had set the alarm so he defiantly knew they wouldn't miss the appointment for the scans but Claire refused to budge. He had never known anyone as awkward as her and she seemed to be even worse now she was pregnant, he hated women's hormones.

"Come on Claire, the bump also wants to know what it looks like." Leon grunted while trying to pull his girlfriend from their bed.  
"Please just another half an hour." She grumbled back and pulled the pillow over her face.  
"Claire come on! I'll get Chris to drag your sorry ass there, if you don't hurry up!"  
"Leonnnnnn!" She mumbled under the pillow and instantly her hormones kicked in again. "You wouldn't have a clue what I'm going through! You're such a loser, threatening me with Chris! Do you have any idea how much it hu-"  
"I KNOW! I can't possible imagine what you're going through but if you're just going to shout at me about it and not explain how the hell I am suppose to know?"

What the hell? Leon thought to himself, they were actually fighting; he had never fought with her ever so why now? Of course they had little arguments but they were more playful, while tickling each over or having a fun fight. He never thought that being so close to a Father would have stressed him out as much as it had done. He could deal with fighting zombies, babysitting Ashley, but fighting with the most important thing in his life while she held his child, was something he never thought he actually would.

She finally pulled the pillow off her head and by the look on her face she noticed too. Her eyes were watering and she began to sob. He smiled at her in an apologetic way, he never meant to shout at her the way he had. He climbed on top of the bed so she couldn't look away and he rubbed her tears away with his thumb.

"Babe, I'm sorry." He then cradled her head over his shoulder, embracing her tightly but also making sure he wasn't pushing too hard against her stomach. "Look the sooner you get dressed and we go there the sooner you can come back home and sleep." She pulled away gently and grabbed one of his hands in hers securely.  
"Aren't you scared?" Claire said softly, looking down at their hands entwined with each other, obviously avoiding his gaze.  
"I am, but we've got to think positively." He grinned, tipping her chin up with his other hand so she was looking into his strong blue eyes.  
"But what happens if something's wrong when we go to the scan..."  
"Ah! That's why you've been trying to pass it up it?" He giggled, and hugged her again. "Don't worry, I promise you everything will be okay." Leon whispered gently into her ear, "now get dressed, were gonna be later if you don't get ready soon."

The two were now in the car, Claire seemed more nervous than before, she kept twitching with her fingers and uncrossing her legs, on the left one, off the left on, on the right one, off the right one. She was really worrying Leon, he had never seen this tense before. The only time she had even been close to this nervous was when she found out she was pregnant at the hospital. Maybe she wasn't ready to be a Mom? This question had been on his mind for days now, of course he didn't have the courage to just ask her, but it was becoming more and more obvious the closer to the birth. She just seemed to be angry, upset and never really experiencing anything positive like the way Leon was.

"Claire you sure your ok?" Leon asked, turning the wheel and parking in the hospital car park.  
"Yes, I just want to get this over and done with."  
"You're not excited at all?" He questioned, pulling his keys from the engine and looking straight at her.  
"A bit..." She mumbled, while opening the car door. Before Leon had a chance to even ask anything else she was waving to him on the path outside and shouting at him to hurry up. He bit his lip, he knew he shouldn't be thinking this was, he had to try and think how Claire was. He breathed in deep and let out a loud sigh while locking the car.

This time at the hospital they got seen quicker which made Claire relax slightly, instead of hanging around for hours with sick people they went straight through into a special room for people who had a lot of money or knew someone important, in Leon's case he was the President's bodyguard.

The room was so much fancier then any of them had expected, the bed looked comfy and more bed like then the horrible cold steel beds in the normal wards. The room was decorated in a model style, silver and white. The furniture looked very expensive and the seats for family to sit on near the bed were leather but very comfy and stylish.

"Ok Miss Redfield, just sit lay down on the bed and lift up your top just so we can see your stomach." The nurse smiled nicely, "I am called Linda and I will go through step by step what I am going to do."  
"Thanks." Leon replied sweetly, he sat quickly on the nearest chair near Claire and grabbed one hand tightly with both his.

"Ok I'm going to apply some cool gel to your stomach, it may be cold but don't worry it won't harm your baby." Linda smiled, while squeezing gel out of a bottle onto her gloved hands, she walked up to Claire lying on the bed after she had enough gel and began to massage gently onto her stomach. Leon laughed while she did so because Claire shivered slightly and made an O shape with her mouth, obvious it was colder than she thought it would be.

"Ok now I'm going to use a transducer which is this object." The nurse stopped speaking and pointed to the transducer, making sure the couple knew what she was talking about, when they both nodded she continued. "I will move it backwards and forwards across your stomach until the image of your baby appears on screen." She stopped speaking again and pointed to a screen which was on the other side of Claire bed, so Claire and Leon would be able to see clearly.

"Right I am going to start now." She smiled and began to rub the transducer over her stomach, immediately an image of a smile alien like creature appeared on the screen, slowly the image was more see able. Leon gasped as he noticed the thing that was on the screen was nestled safely in his girlfriend's stomach, it was his baby. Claire suddenly gripped tighter on Leon's hand, it was clear to him that she was scared but excited at the same time. She smiled after staring at the image for a good couple of minutes, a smile that seemed months ago Leon had seen.

"Your baby is fine, really healthy. Whatever your doing keep it up, it's perfect." Linda smiled, watching the pair transfixed on the image on the screen. Their eyes were full of wonder and awe; they then looked at each other and grinned widely.

"Is that really our baby?" Claire asked now turning to the nurse, she seemed that shocked but happy it hadn't sunk in.  
"Yes a perfect healthy one, you should be both really happy. Oh have you decided if you want to know what sex it is yet?"

Claire and Leon looked at each confused, they had been building up for this for months but they had never really discussed on if they wanted to know the gender before the birth. Leon cupped both of Claire's hands in his and brought them up to his mouth a pecked them lovingly.

"Claire honey, it's up to you. You're the one having to carry it around, if you want to kn-"  
"Do you want to know?" She cut him off, smiling, her gentle blue eyes shining with mystery.  
"I just want to make you happy, do what you think is best." He smiled back, kissing her hands once more.  
"Yeah, I want to know now." She grinned which seemed infectious, Leon chuckled and looked at the screen again as if he was expecting their child to also smile back.

For the first time in months Leon felt that spark that the pair seemed to be lacking, he knew her emotions would be all over the place throughout her pregnancy but he had never imagined them to feel further apart from each other, to the point of even arguing. But this moment right now proved to him that they would make it through this, he wanted to make his child proud of him and happy, he wanted to make Claire happy also, the way she looked now he defiantly knew they could do this. They'd be the best Dad and Mom ever.

* * *

Sorry to everyone for the wait XD, I've had my big exams right now so I've been studying for them! I'm now on my weeks break so I'm trying to finish off some stories I haven't got around too, a big thanks to **hobohunter**, she helped me with the ultrascan part XD I didn't have a clue what to write! Hope you like it please leave a nice review ^^


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's notes:**__ I normally write these at the bottom but I thought I should apologize for the late update, I had a Media exam which is the only lesson I actually want to pass right now so I decided to study for that. I should have written that on the bottom of the previous chapter but I forgot it was so close! So here it is:_

"_You can't go..."_

"_I'm sorry. It's my job..."_

The morning after the scan seemed as ordinary as any other day, when Leon finally opened his eyes and adjusted towards his sleeping girlfriend. But he couldn't of been anymore wrong. He stroked her face gently making sure he didn't wake her and snuggled closer to her, Claire had a hand protectively covered on top of baby bump, a habit she picked up early on with her pregnancy.

Looking at her now so peaceful asleep made him realise how lucky he was, yeah they both had been through hell and back but now it was time for them to regain what life had wanted to take away from them. He knew her emotions would be all over the place but just laying here so close to her made him knew somehow they were fine....

"Goddamit!" He roared, his mobile phone on the bedside table rudely interrupted his thoughts and also woke up Claire. He sighed and violently picked up his phone and answered it without looking who was calling.

"Shhh, go back to sleep." He whispered quietly to Claire, she nodded, smiled and turned back over in bed. Snores were instantly heard causing Leon to chuckle.

"Hello?" Leon grunted down the phone half asleep still.  
"Mr. Kennedy, it is urgent we need you down at the base as soon as possible...."

And with that the phone died, causing Leon to moan even more in annoyance. He nudged Claire softly and after a good five minutes she finally opened her eyes to the world.

"Honey, I've got to go out for a little while." He smiled rubbing her cheek softly while he cupped her cheek.  
"Mmmm?" She simply noised back.  
"It's to do with work, don't worry though I'll be back soon. If you need me just phone me." She nodded and rubbed her eyes with hands and fingers trying to wake herself up more to actually reply to him.

"You don't need to get up, remember your sleeping for two." At this statement she began to giggle, it was his polite way of letting her be lazy.  
"Don't worry, I promised I'd go baby shopping later with Jill." Her eyes seemed to shine brighter with pride when she said the sentence. Having this baby seemed to be the best thing her and Leon ever had done.

"Right well see ya later, sweetie." He said in a childish voice causing her to giggle more, he then bent forward and kissed her lips gently and then let go. "I'll be back later." He whispered and then walked out the room.

Yawning and stretching Claire decided to see what time it was, now that Jill had went blonde she felt as if she needed to dress up more around her. Claire had never seen Jill this happy before, she was even wearing womanly dresses! Claire grinned picturing her dummy of a big brother, he wanted her bad and everyone could tell. Maybe soon he'd ask her, if he didn't Claire would have too, it wasn't as if Chris could hit his pregnant sister.

"Whaaa? 4 o' clock!" She screamed as she looked at the alarm clock, what the hell did they need Leon this early. She took for granted that it must of been eight or earlyish in the morning, but obviously it wasn't. Claire wanted to go back to sleep for a couple of more hours as she wasn't meeting up with Jill until eleven, but now she was worried. Why did they need Leon for? It must have been important... She knew she wouldn't be able to go to sleep until she knew more, so she decided to get up and watch T.V for a bit.

She sat down on the coach and decided to sprawl her legs out and patting her baby bump.  
"You know when you finally get out of there Daddy's never gonna leave you alone." She giggled and hummed while flicking through random junk channels.  
"Ah! Finally..." Something she knew might help her understand why they needed Leon the news channel.

As soon as she flicked on she knew something bad was going on, she could feel it in the pit of her stomach and it wasn't to do with her baby or her raging hormones. Claire quickly began to hug her stomach in comfort while looking at the images on screen. It was an old abandoned factory out somewhere in England in the countryside; it looked like it hadn't been in use in years. News reporters were huddled outside it, cameras, microphones, paper with questions. It looked all too familiar to her, just like déjà vu. She suddenly felt violently sick, she knew why they needed Leon for and it was unfair.

Claire quickly ran to the bathroom covering her mouth with her hand, she couldn't tell what was causing the sickness but this was too overwhelming. They had just been picking out baby names for their little boy and now Leon was at war. Just as fate seemed to smiling down on them, huh fate! She could hear her house phone going but she couldn't move, she was numb, her whole world in a couple of minutes seemed to be crumbling. She knew it would be Chris or Jill; it's not as if they'd miss a virus outbreak. The answering machine then clicked on, causing Claire to groan in annoyance, she hated that thing! She just wanted to be alone, with her baby and Leon holding them both in his strong arms.

"Claire pick up! It's serious!" Her brother boomed in his authorative voice, causing her to jump slightly. She didn't understand how Jill could put up with him; it was enough to give Claire a headache.

"If Kennedy hasn't told you yet! I'll ring his neck, now pick up! I know you're up!" He shouted again, that was it she couldn't take it anymore. She knew he'd keep screaming down the phone till either a) she'd answer it or b) she'd end up throwing it at the wall, which wasn't a good idea with the state she was currently in.

"What?!" Claire finally answered angrily.  
"He's told you right?"  
"Told me what exactly Chris?"  
"Another outbreak in England."  
"I know Chris!"  
"But did he tell you...?" He asked, knowing she was now snapping too easily. Chris may of not shown it but he did understand the way his little sister's brain worked, too well.  
"No, he went about half an hour ago." She eventually answered, she couldn't think straight, her sickness was creeping back to her throat.  
"That jackass! Claire take it easy but me and Jill are away to meet him now."  
"Yeah and how would that be bad?"  
"Because he's in England right now." And with that reply she hung up and collapsed on the floor, what about telling her everything? What about the feelings they had for each other? What was he playing at?

She quickly ran to the bedroom and picked her cell phone off the bedside table and switched it on. He knew the call, if anything was important he'd phone her or if she needed him she'd phone him, so why hadn't he rang?

Claire quickly dialled his phone number, she knew it off by heart and it rang, and rang and rang, until finally his voice message came on. Her heart was racing, her head was hot and pounding, she couldn't even think of what to say down the phone so she ended up the call hoping he would ring her and just like magic he did. She bit her lip before pressing the button to answer the phone call, she knew it would break her hard.

"_You can't go..."_

"_I'm sorry. It's my job..."_

_**Author notes:**__ Ooooh, I left you at a cliff hanger! You hate me I know ahah! I will be updating alot more, I'm already writing the next chapter so don't worry._


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Notes:** Listen to "The Veronicas – This is how it feels"

**1 year later**

"Come on Claire! Open up!" Leon roared banging on the front door to the house him and his lover used to own. From his recent mission he knew he wouldn't be forgiven that quickly, but this was beyond annoying. She hadn't even offered him in to see his son, which was his first play. Show how much of a good Daddy he could be and she'd take him back with welcoming arms, realising how much she had missed him. But instead she screamed curses at him and refused to open the door.

"Fuck off Leon!" She screamed back through the letter box, hoping he'd get the hint. She grasped little bundle in her arms, she was tempted to walk out there and use him as a weapon, but she could never be that cruel. She tightly hugged her baby, hoping he'd just go, the pain he had caused her, not knowing if he was dead or alive...

"You shouldn't swear in front of him! It's bad Claire; you don't want him picking up dirty habits." He hissed back, he knew he had touched a nerve. Maybe it was going too far? But at this moment any measure to see her and his baby was enough for him, even if it did hurt her. He needed to see her.

"Some things never change! I thought you know, maybe for once you'd loose that attitude and grow up!" Claire replied back now banging the letter box down hard and walking to the living room. She needed to try and forget about him, she didn't want to let him see her upset, angry or at all. He deserved it for everything he put her through. She switched on the T.V, it was better to try and but the sound of his constant whining out of his head, because she did feel like giving in. She was in two minds of what to do let him in and let him explain because she should be supportive of whatever he had faced but he left her with their son to bring up and her own, with no word from him.

She started to flick through the T.V channels hoping to find something decent on, maybe some film would help her get her mind of it.

"Claire! You can't do this, let me in!" He called, now banging on the window that was in the living room.

She couldn't handle it, looking at her baby boy in her arms, his sapphire eyes, the same shade of his father's, Leon's voice.... his voice... That once rugged but charming voice that uttered such loving words...

Her body was trembling, she hadn't felt this sick in a long time, and her stomach was tying in knots, choking her from the inside. She had to put her baby down in the cot; she was scared in case she lost control and dropped him.

"Chris told me to come by!" Leon roared still banging on the window with such force.  
"Well Chris was wrong! If you break that window, you're paying for it!" Claire retorted back, clenching her stomach; she was now sitting on the stairs with her hands over her ears.  
"Look I'm sorry!" He replied back finally stopping with the knocking. Claire gave a sigh of relief, at least nothing was broken, just her heart. Then an Earth shaken cry was heard, Leon had woke the baby. Uttering curses as she carefully walked up the stairs, trying to calm down, right now her baby needed her, she need to be strong for him.

She breathed in deep, walking slowly to the cradle and gently lifted her baby up. Rapping the blanket that was lying on top, tightly around she began to hum a soothing lullaby. Chris always used to make fun of her singing voice when they were younger, but Steve didn't seem to mind. He cooed and gurgled made up words, smiling happy which caused his tears to no longer spill. He then slowly began to close his eyes again, with a slight grin on his face. After rocking Steve backwards and forwards, Claire knew he'd be fine to sleep again, unless a rude person downstairs started to make loud noises again.

After rubbing her hands through her hair to try and relax and see sense of the situation, she walked down stairs. It was now or never, she would have to deal with Leon one way or another. The sooner the better, she just had to try and control her temper and her emotions, which seemed easy to do in her head. But she where did that leave her and Leon?

Claire had thought about moving away months after Leon left her. Getting out of the country, trying to start a new life, a life without Leon, a life where he would never be able to find her, unless her thick headed brother told him. She nearly did do it, it's not as if she had anyone to stop her, but one night as she flicked the news on, something made her heart crush. It was the same country side in rural England, where Leon, Chris and Jill apparently where, and a little boy around the age of seven had been evacuated out, gun shots to his chest. He was screaming for his Dad, struggling to breath, the doctor's rushed him away and nothing else was said. If he had survived or died, but that scene made her think of her baby boy nestled in her stomach. Boys would always look up to their Dad's and she knew she didn't have a right to take that away.

"Claire come on!" Leon bellowed again, he couldn't take it any longer. He would bust the door down if she didn't hurry up; he needed to see her and his child.

"Ok..." She whispered as she unlocked the door, closing her eyes and feeling the pain.  
"Claire!" Leon answered hurtfully and embraced her tightly. Claire at first began to clench her hands into fists, trying not to think about this moment. Only focusing on the pain and hurt she felt, but his loving embrace was too much to bear. A tear slowly slid from her eyes, slowly gathering more and more until she sobbed loudly and pushed Leon back.

"HOW DARE YOU!" She whimpered, pointing a finger at him "You left me for months! Without a word and you just come back, as if nothing's happened?" She raged now, collapsing to the floor and tightening into a ball, as she put her hands over her head. She knew she should of never let him in.

"Claire honey, I'm so sorry!" He repeated over and over again, shaking his head. His eyes showing all his guilt and he also was on the edge of crying, he bent down and cradled his girlfriend, just as Claire had done with Steve. He snuggled into her, even if she rejected him he would continue, he needed to hold her.

"Leon don't!" She sobbed through her arms, "Just do-"  
"Claire, look I'm sorry." He simply replied and finally he got the courage to lift her up from the floor and placed her on the sofa. She rolled over on purpose so she didn't need to see him, Leon was strong enough to pull her back over, and she wasn't going to win. They needed to talk about this.

Her eyes glistened with pain and anger; he had never seen her this bad before.  
"Why?" She finally murmured after sniffing and spluttering.  
"I had too, it was my job. You know how important it is."  
"But aren't me and Steve more?"  
"Stev-?"  
"Our child, you weren't here to name him so I chose it." She smiled back, as a proud mother should do. "You weren't even here to hold my hand throughout the birth."  
"Awwh, Steve?? So he's defiantly a boy?"

In a moment that seemed like he was never going to get through to her, it suddenly turned into a moment of awe. He hadn't had time to think he'd be a father when he got back; the sudden pain he felt was like an elastic band had pinged so hard at his heart. No wonder she was mad at him. Of course he hadn't forgotten she was pregnant, but it was weird to think the thing... his son, which had been in her stomach, was out in the real world and was very alive.

"I couldn't leave him nameless." Was all she uttered; she coughed and sobbed a bit more. Leon noticed she wasn't crying as much as she was at first. One good thing.

"I like Steve..."  
"I owed him, I felt as if it was the only way."  
"I love the name Claire, can I see him?"  
"He's in our bedroom."

And with that improvement, he held tightly onto his lovers hand and smiled. She sobbed but smiled back, he knew they'd be okay through time. Even though he had a lot to make up for, he would.

He heavy stomped up the stairs and made his way to their bedroom and saw the little head peaked up from the blankets, wrapped tightly around him. He stood un-motionless for a couple of minutes, he was so fascinated, that he had produced this child, that this boy was his son, that he was a father. After watching Steve's little chest go up and down as he breathed, Leon finally got the courage to pick him up. It was true Leon had never held a child in his life, but something took over in his mind, his paternal reflexes maybe, but he knew exactly how to held him.

Steve was defiantly a mixture of him and Claire, he had Claire's hair, fiery brown and Leon's nose. When Leon rubbed Steve's little hand softly, the baby began to stir and flutter his eyes opened. He had his eyes, the eyes that Leon had also inherited from his father. It caused Leon's heart to beat faster and blush a little, the evidence was clear to see that this was his son. Now he had to try and step up to that and be the best damn father this child and Claire would ever see.


	7. Chapter 7

The sounds of Steve's cries echoed throughout the house, Claire trembled in her sleep with the screams. Her nightmares had been getting worse; she was barely able to keep awake, which she wanted to do more than ever. Leon waiting patiently to see if she stirred from upstairs, when no other noise was heard of Claire, he decided to go see his son himself.

Claire was asleep in the wonderful comfy bed that Leon craved. He would give anything right now to comfort Claire and too embrace, but something happened while he was away, that even he should have known it would take a while for Claire to be able to forgive him. Leon had been kicked out onto the sofa downstairs, with a thin sheet, he knew deep down it could have been worse and Claire could have kicked Leon out her life and their son's.

Steve's cries were unbearable at late, they went on and on and on, even when Leon tried to sooth him. Leon had also tried to sing lullaby's which seemed to work until Leon placed his son back down in his crib.

Leon walked up the stairs as quiet as he could, if Claire woke up and saw him no doubt she'd blame him for being too noisy and waking the baby, even though he knew it wasn't his fault. He sighed, rubbing his eyes, when he finally got into Steve's room.

Leon was amazed when Claire showed him around the house, even though Leon had lived there prior before he left on his mission but Claire had entirely refurbished the whole house, no doubt with his own wages. The house contained two spare rooms when they moved in, one was immediately made into a scruffy office where Leon could go to check his e-mails and follow up on any paper work that was needed. The second room was just made into a junk room, filled with random things that Leon couldn't understand why it was even there in the first place. Thinking it must have been important to keep, but still couldn't figure out what the random junk was he didn't want to get rid of them. Claire had sorted all of the junk and knew how much of a hoarder Leon was and got a loft converted into another small room and placed all of it in there, neatly stored in boxes. There was that much room she even added another double bed, so now the house had two guest rooms.

The old junk room was made into Steve's nursery. It was perfect; it contained everything a new baby needed. The room was a baby blue colour, not too bright but not too dull and a medium sized white barred crib in the middle. Toys were placed neatly into blue boxes and cupboards with clothes, nappies and other baby things were around the room. There was even a changing unit, with a soft spongy mattress what was wipe-able to change Steve easier. Leon had been tempted to climb on the changing unit to see if it was more comfortable than the sofa down stairs.

Leon quickly began to whisper to his son words of reassurance and picked him up carefully. It was amazing how soon Steve stopped crying when Leon brought him close to him.  
"There, there no need to cry, Daddy's here." He whispered into the little bundle wrapped tightly in a blanket.

* * *

"_Leon you need to tell me what happened..." She whispered, holding his hand tightly. The pair was currently sitting on chairs in Leon's office.  
"There's too much to tell." He uttered, almost harshly. He didn't mean it to sound like it had, but he knew Claire had suffered enough he didn't want to burden her with anymore problems._

_"I thought we told each other everything, when did that change?" She asked, her eyes dropping to the floor. It was simple to tell the atmosphere had changed, it was uneasy and there was pain in the woman in front of him._

_"I don't want you to suffer anymore; you have something to look after, something positive."  
"So do you Leon, or do you not me and Steve as your family?"  
"You know I do, it's just not that simple."  
"What happened?" She demanded again, now staring at him, she pulled her hands away from him and folded them over. She didn't want him to touch her, not after what he had said.  
"I'd rather talk about this when Chris and Jill are here too." He answered back and stood up, "if you want me to go, just say."  
"What the fuck are you talking about? You've got no idea what I went through and I don't have any idea what you went through either! You won't even to me, your other half? Pfffft." She also stood up and slammed hard on the desk with her hands, she shook her head trying to force the tears back down. When Leon didn't reply, she knew she had got to him; feeling a tiny bit satisfied with herself she walked out the office and went to Steve's nursery. At least he would cuddle her. _

_

* * *

  
_

"At least I can talk to you little guy?" Leon smirked, he never thought in a million years he'd be talking to a child this way. He always used to make fun of his friends at work when they used to talk all cutesy with their children, but now he could see why. The joy and pride he felt in his heart when he held his child close to his heart, made him feel so happy, the happiest father on Earth.

"So little man, how do you think Daddy could make Mummy feel better?" He asked, as if the baby could reply, Steve gurgled and giggled looking at Leon strangely, as if it was a "no chance, you should figure it out yourself." The light flickered on and brightened the dark room, causing Leon to go blind for a moment then finally his vision returned. He turned around and Claire was staring at him and Steve in awe and affection.

"I wondered why he stopped crying." She simply replied and smiled.  
"I couldn't just leave him..." Leon turned back and directed his attention towards his son.  
"I'm surprised you didn't make him feel worse."  
"And what's that supposed to mean?"  
"Well I wouldn't like it if a strange man came up to me in the middle of the night and started to carry me."  
"I know you would." He grunted back, as if hinting to something and then decided to pretend he didn't say a word, she didn't reply back so he got the impression she either didn't hear him or she also pretended he didn't. "And of course he knows who I am, I'm his Daddy, he can smell me."  
"What of sweat?"  
"If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it all." He grinned, bouncing Steve in his arms.

Claire didn't reply after that, she sat on the floor and rested her chin in her hands for a couple of minutes, watching Leon cooing over her baby, smiling slightly but she wouldn't let Leon see that.

* * *

"_You no he has your hair, so he's probably going to have you anger problems too."  
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Claire hissed, chucking a nearby pillow towards Leon. Leon was sitting on a single chair while Claire hogged the entire sofa.  
_

"_My point is proven." Leon laughed and stuck his tongue out.  
"Shut up Kennedy!" Bawled another voice, walking in through the front door. "If you've been violent towards my sister I will KIL-"  
"Chris cool it, we've just got back." Jill simply replied and ran in front of Chris. Claire had phoned both of them as soon as they had made it home, Leon wasn't going to tell Claire anything unless they were there also. He couldn't get out of it if she got them to come now._

_Jill immediately hugged Claire tightly and whispered comforting words in her ear, causing Claire nearly to cry but she held them in. She should be happy one of her close friends and her brother had came back alive, their luck hadn't ran out. Chris finally stepped in when Jill sat down on the sofa Claire had been sprawled out across, and kissed his sister on the forehead and bear hugged her so tightly he lifted her off the ground._

_"Chris I think your killing her, she's going blue..." Jill whispered towards him, which caused him to blush slightly.  
"I forget how strong I am."  
"I can tell." Claire answered gasping for air, when he finally placed her down on the floor. "I'm...I'm... G-g-g-lad you got home..." She finally spluttered out with tears and still trying to breath._

_"Claire calm down." Leon replied, grabbing Claire's hands and leading her to the sofa to sit. She didn't answer back, she was still very angry with him and it would take a while before she'd forgive him._

"_So what happened?" She finally asked, after having another hug from Jill.  
"The usual, a mass outbreak, a lot of deaths." Chris did the talking, as normal, trying to steal the lime light. It wouldn't be long before he started talking about everything "he" did and doing the actions on how "he" fought off creatures or people._

_"Did anyone get hurt?" Claire darted her eyes to all three of them, to make sure they knew she meant them.  
"Leon got infected." Jill answered this time, Leon shook his head and stared at her, obviously he didn't want Claire to know.  
"...What?"  
"He got infected, but thank the heaven's there was a cure and we found it." Chris grinned as if what he had just said was amazing and would make Claire feel better.  
"How infected?"  
"Not that bad, not as bad as Jill in Racoon City." Leon responded, he knew he better take over Claire would be even angrier with him if that was possible. Just when Claire's mouth moved to ask more, Steve began to cry upstairs._

_"You're baby?" Jill asked puzzled, she hadn't realised it was born, obviously Chris hadn't either. His face went bright white, almost ghost like when Claire nodded.  
"It was born when we were away?" Jill asked again, the hurt appeared in her eyes, it was easy to see their minds where constantly focused on this mission. _

_

* * *

_"You know, I hate seeing you two together."  
"Jealous, he's getting hugs and you're not?"  
"No, just because he looks more like you, then me." She sniffled, when Leon had went the only thing that made her stay was because Steve reminded her so much of Leon.

His eyes especially, so blue and pure, it made her heart fill with pain, Leon could be dead? And all that remained of his trace was memories, photos and a little person he created...

"There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't think of you." Leon smiled looking behind towards Claire, he genuinely meant it even if she didn't believe him. "When I got infected, I didn't want to die."  
"Leon..."  
"I wanted to come home to hold you and when I didn't know what time or what day it was anymore, my gut instinct told me that this fellow had been born." He laughed, now walking towards Claire and directly looked at her. He scooped the baby into a more comfortable position.  
"How?"  
"It's hard to explain, but when the virus was infecting me veins, it stopped for a couple of seconds, maybe longer... And all I could feel was love. Love from you and another, someone else I knew I hadn't met, but was part of me. I then knew I wasn't ready to die, I had to meet someone close to me first." Claire began to instantly cry, sniffling and sobbing. Leon noticed Steve had fallen asleep and to his advantage put him back down in his crib and ran up to her.  
"But you didn't even phone?" She cried punching Leon when he came near her, he grabbed her hands with his super reflexes which caused her to stop trying to hurt him.  
"You didn't think I thought about it?" He slowly put her hands in his and tightly held them. "I wanted too so much, I didn't want to go but I had too."  
"You...you..."  
"Claire, I'm sorry for everything, this is nothing how I wanted to do this." He smiled, and blushed slightly, shaking his face which made his hair fly out his face.

She looked at him with a puzzled face and he stood up, gently pulling her also off the floor. He then bent down on one knee and brought out a black velvet box.  
"Leon?" She whimpered, now crying even more.  
"I had this all planned, before I went. So when I was away I tried to plan another way, I wanted to do the full thing, a fancy meal, you in a dress looking beautiful, a perfect evening. But I should of known it wouldn't of been all happy families when I came home, I was stuck in my own fantasy world and I know there's no way you should forgive me. But Claire?"  
"Wh-wh-wh-what?" She managed to splutter out in between sniffing and trying to calm down, she didn't want to wake Steve.  
"Claire Redfield, would you be my wife?" He grabbed her left hand and opened with the right box the ring. It was a shiny silver band with a tiny blue diamond encrusted in the middle, sparkling.

"Leon of course!" She shouted, stood up and flung her arms around her fiancée's neck.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long awaited chapter! I've finally got a job! Woo, it's something like the chapter in my first story, ahaha. I'm just waiting on Leon turning up; I will be writing more chapters to this story when I get time. I hope you enjoyed it.


	8. Chapter 8

Leon Kennedy was cuddled up on the sofa to Claire Redfield, future Claire Kennedy checking over and over their wedding invitations. They had to get the guests right, if they invited even one wrong person or missed someone it could be a disaster. After the Raccoon City cover up, Umbrella tried to take out all survivors so no one could know the truth. But they failed, so if somehow someone figured out that Claire and Leon were getting married, a perfect advantage for umbrella to take them out or go under cover. Because of this even the wedding venue had to be selected carefully, instead of a traditional wedding, it had to be quieter and secluded.

"You sure that's everyone?" Leon asked his fiancée, he was carefully going through the invitations placed out on the table in front of the pair.

"Well we can't invite Rebecca and Billy without everyone else who's took part in taking umbrella down..." She sighed and rubbed her eyes, the task at hand had seemed to go on for hours.

"Yeah and here's the list of them, there all ticked off so we haven't missed anyone out." Leon chuckled, "you sure you want Ashley there?"  
"Well of course, I can't just miss her out..."  
"You know she's going to hate you." Leon laughed again and began to rub Claire's shoulders trying to relief her stress.  
"Well that's her choice, just as long as she doesn't spoil it." She smiled and yawned, "I think it's time for bed."

Leon smiled at a sleepy Claire and followed her up the stairs to bed. Just as the two were about to hop into bed a cry awoke them from their peaceful thinking.

"Steve..." Claire and Leon both sighed at the same time, for the past week their son had been awaking throughout the night, keeping the pair from sleeping or doing anything.

"You're turn." Claire giggled while pulling the bed sheets over her head.  
"Now that's hardly fair." Leon tutted back, trying to rummage around the bedroom in the dark. He never understood how Claire managed to find her way out.

He walked bare foot into Steve's bedroom and shivered, he never realised how cold it had become.

"No wonder the little guy was crying." He sighed; thank God the switch to put the heating on was just down the corridor, he would have had to force himself back downstairs.

He decided to pick up Steve because he obviously wasn't sleeping to give Leon some company while he switched the heating on. Steve babbled and gargled in his ear happily while Leon bounced him up and down playfully.

"You know you're supposed to be tired at night not happy." Leon grumbled smiling at his perfect son just smiling back as if it was a good thing keeping his Daddy awake.

Leon switched the switch and continued bouncing Steve up and down until he reached Steve's crib.

"I know when I put you down and tuck you back in your bed, you're just going to stare at me giggling, and as soon as I walk away you'll cry. But for once, can you give something back to me and you're Mommy? We are so tired and our wedding is weeks away, so we need as much rest as we can." Leon laughed after he realised he might as well of being talking to himself.

He placed Steve gently in the middle of his cot and wrapped him tightly and firmly in his blanket. But this time Steve yawned lightly causing Leon to nearly awe out loud; he then gently closed his eyelids shut and began to breathe heavily.

"Maybe he does understand what I'm saying?" Leon laughed quietly; cursing to himself he didn't want to wake Steve.

Leon then crept on his toes and jumped into bed next to Claire. He turned over to see that she also was asleep and looked like an angel to him. He kissed her tenderly on her forehead and turned the other way to finally get some well earned sleep.

When Leon awaked to a bright sunny day something was different, the smell in the air was so heavenly. His stomach grumbled, his mouth was watering with drool...

"BACON!" He yelled without even thinking he ran into the kitchen, only in his boxers. His eyes watered with how cold the kitchen titles were but that didn't stop him.

Claire laughed and rolled her eyes, it was the same every time she decided to cook bacon. It was a rare thing because she couldn't be bothered to cook and also she couldn't but bacon was simple enough. Also she and Leon liked it well done so it wasn't as if she could overcook it.

She started to dry the dishes in the sink and by the time she turned her head around Leon was already gone back upstairs. Leaving an empty dish and the chair pulled out.

Claire smiled and giggled again, "Men..." She hummed out loud while washing some other dishes what was already placed in the sink of soapy water.

Today she knew it would be a stressful one, her and Leon had to go over all the invitations again, just in case they left someone out or wrote one out for someone they actually didn't want. The first night planning who would come and who would not was really boring and long but she knew it had to be done. The wedding was only two weeks away, and she had a dress fitting at 3 o clock.

Leon then surprised her from her thoughts; he kissed her gently on the cheek causing her to shriek a little from the shock.

"My kisses that bad?" He laughed and plopped his empty bacon dish in the sink.  
"Maybe they are..." Claire smiled back, looking at him with love.  
"You leave them and start laying out the invites on the table, I'll finish up." He winked back and pulled her to a chair.  
"What's gotten into you Mr. Kennedy? When have you ever done house work?" Claire replied, doing what she was told and placing the invites from the top draw out around the table.

"When I noticed how much you do for me." Leon laughed back, "You know I did used to live by myself, I had to learn a couple of things."  
"You _had_ too?" She laughed back sarcastically.  
"Yeah because I knew deep down, I'd end up with you and you'd do everything from now on."  
"You're such a charmer."  
"I know plenty have told me so." And with that Claire picked up a wet dish cloth what was placed on the side of the kitchen bench and tossed it at his hair, his ultimate weakness.  
"Clairee!" He screamed, shaking his wet hair around like a dog would after being washed.  
"Baby, you take your looks far too seriously." She laughed really hard back over Leon's OMG face.  
"Well at least I'm not ginger!" No one had ever said that to him and got away with it but he knew the perfect come back.

"LEON SCOTT KENNEDY!" Claire shouted back "I am not _**GINGER**_, I have a tiny bit of _**RED **_but I am not _**GINGER**_!"

With this Leon gently ran up to her and chucked her over his shoulder.  
"You know Redfield you're getting pretty soft since you've gotten older."  
"WHAT!!" She began to thump and wiggle with everything she could and then a noise immediately changed the atmosphere from fun to serious. Steve began to cry.

Claire ran up the stairs leaving Leon drying the dishes alone but was suddenly greeted by Steve's cries in the kitchen.

"Hush Steve, Mommy and Daddy are both here." She cooed into their babies ear, while bouncing him over her shoulder.  
"I think he might be hungry." Leon told her and Claire nodded back.

Since Leon was closest to the refrigerator he took a little pot of baby food and handed it too Claire.

"Thanks." She whispered grateful and began to feed Steve, he stopped crying and began to coo and gurgle again.

"I tell you what Leon. Could you play with Steve while I check these? Leave the rest of the dishes for later." Claire smiled while she played peek-a-boo, and looked at Leon's direction waiting on his reply.

"Sure honey." Leon answered back and put the last of the dishes to the side letting them dry for themselves; he picked Steve up with ease and took him in the living room.

Claire looked at a piece of paper which listed everyone who they had written invites too and double checked it. Making sure Chris and Jill were on, they were the main guests, she then looked for the invitations spread out on the table, when she found them she ticked their names on the piece of paper. She did this in order and made sure they were people they would want at their wedding.

Ashley (Claire and Leon had to keep the peace somehow), Ark, Barry, Billy, Carlos, Chris, Jill, Rebecca, Lilly, Lot, Sheva and the Kennedy's.

Claire had never met any of Leon's parents before so this was a big thing, she could imagine them not liking her already, the first time Leon had spoke to his parents in a long time he told them he had a son on the way, Claire could see this being big blow for a family who hadn't heard from their son in a long time.

Claire had also invited old college friends, since she never got back in time to continue with her course because of the Raccoon City disaster, she also didn't have time to catch up with any of her friends. A wedding was a perfect way to do this, after looking around for weeks she finally found all of her old friends address. She was now hoping and praying they still lived at the same address. Leon had also invited some of his old friends and work mates. Claire was very excited to meet everybody.

"All done." She finally gasped and wiped her forehead, this hadn't been as stressful as when she started planning who could come. Claire was glad that this would be a small wedding, this was what she wanted from the start and Leon also had agreed.

Since Leon had invited work friends they had guaranteed they would try and protect them from anything. As this would be the perfect advantage for Wesker or any other enemies to get back at the pair they needed a lot security just in case.

"Claire it's nearly two." Leon shouted from the living room, he knew she'd lose track of time.

"SHIT! Okay honey, will you be fine with Steve?!" Claire asked, this would be the first time Leon had looked after Steve by himself.

"I'm sure, I can change him, I know how to feed him, I can get him to sleep and if I can't manage I always could phone up Jill." Leon laughed; he knew he was ready for this.

"Ok, I'm just going up to quickly get changed."

Claire quickly ran up the stairs to hers and Leon's bedroom and pulled a pair of clean black jeans from the cupboard and then sighed.

She knew she was going to a "fancy" type shop for her dress fitting so she didn't want to look like a slob, even though she felt more comfortable wearing jeans. She also didn't want to look too over the top; she didn't look like the type of girl to wear posh clothes but she actually did own many expensive dresses, Leon had bought them for her when she got invited to his work dinner. Since many of this dinners were with important people who needed bodyguards, Claire realised she had to make an impression to his work friends.

Claire knew the perfect combination, a simple dark denim skirt which ended below her knees and a smart pink tank top. This way she wasn't completely uncomfortable and she didn't look too dressed.

She quickly got changed and chucked her clothes in a pile on the bed; Leon could put them away later.

Claire never really cared much about her hair, but today was different. She combed the knots and bed head out and left it down, it was much longer than she actually thought; it came just above her breasts.

After looking in the mirror for several minutes, she convinced herself she better go.

* * *

**Authors Notes:** Sorry for the big delay, I just haven't had the spark or juice lately to write anymore. I hope this makes up for it, I know it's very long and a bit boring but I thought the stuff I had wrote about needed to be wrote about.

Big thanks go out to **Hobohunter** again, she's my RE guru ^^

Also I got a PS3 and got addicted to RE5, just finished it in hard mode with 50% of the trophies, so I'm happy about that XD


	9. Chapter 9

Claire managed to arrive at the dress fitting appointment ten minutes earlier, which made her feel more calm and relaxed.

Leon had let her take their car as he knew he wouldn't need to go anywhere when he was looking after Steven. This also helped her become less stressed; this meant she could drive more comfortable and consternate more on the road then thinking she was going to be late.

When she arrived at the fancy dress shop it couldn't have been even more perfect, the woman who was booked before her had found _**her**_ dress quicker than she thought, leaving Claire with more time with the assistant to help her also hopefully find _**her**_ dress also.

"Miss. Redfield?" A woman asked at the desk when she arrived, this woman had also been the one Claire had booked the appointment with. Being polite Claire glanced at her name badge, so she could direct her with her first name rather than leaving her name out the subject.

The assistant's name was, Annie, she had short blonde, bobbed hair and was quite tanned. Annie reminded Claire of Nichole Richie, because she looked rich and smelt of money also. She wore a simple grey skirt which came above her knees but the fabric was so thick, it was obviously a designer make which Claire didn't have a clue what it was (Claire wasn't a label girl in the slightest.) Annie's shirt was also pink but a lighter shade then what Claire tank top was, it also had white pin stripes going down and had long sleeves that went into cuffs at the bottom and had expensive looking buttons with a pink pearl in the middle.

Claire thought she was very pretty and guessed her age to be in her early twenties, she was also very slim and attractive, Claire could imagine how many numbers men would give her if she only just walked down a street.

"Please just call me Claire." Claire repeated back and put her hand out so Annie could shake it, which she did.

"If you please come into the middle of the room and sit down. I'm going to ask you questions based on the perfect dress you have in mind and I will try to find a similar dress we have here." Annie told Claire, while walking to modern looking leather ottomans placed around the centre of the shop.

When Claire walked behind her she noticed Annie's skirt also had a grey stiff bow at the back and she wore pink high heels what matched the same colour as her shirt.

Claire sat down when she reached the ottomans and began to look around; she had never seen so many dresses in a shop before. There seemed to be thousands, ranging from all different colours and styles. If her dress wasn't here, there was no way on Earth she'd ever be able to find it.

Annie sat down and giggled friendly at Claire which made her blush; her eyes were dazzling with awe while her eyes darted all around the shop.

"Okay first things first." Annie smiled pulling out a little notepad and pen and began to look at Claire again. "What colour did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking white or cream." Claire answered back, she knew it was traditional if the bride was still a virgin to wear white, but she was proud she had a wonderful son to Leon and she was privileged to wear white if she wanted to wear white.

"Okay, did you want any other colours on, say for beading or sashes etc?" Annie asked politely while jotting down everything Claire had said.

"Maybe pink.... Yeah actually pink." Claire replied back, it was true even though she was a tom boy she loved the colour pink. Maybe it was just a girl thing? And she wanted to look as feminine as possible on her wedding day, especially for Leon.

"Okay straps or strapless?"  
"Strapless."  
"What designs would you like on the dress? For example beading?" Annie asked, while smiling. Claire could tell she really loved her job.  
"Well I like the bow you have on the back of your skirt, maybe like a belt going around with a bow on the back? I'd also love a bit of beading, maybe just plain beads or some with a little pink on."  
"Well thank you!" Annie politely replied to Claire's comment and scribbled down what she had just said. After a few more note taking she finally asked "Do you want a train or not? If so how long?"  
"Yeah I'd like a train, but maybe medium. Knowing my luck I'd probably trip if it's too long." Claire laughed; she could imagine her wedding being all perfect till she walked down the aisle.  
"Okay, you want a white strapless dress; with a pink sash maybe a pink bow also had the back, a bit of beading around the dress and a medium train?" Annie asked re reading her notes she took.

Claire tried to picture the dress she'd like in her head and it sounded pretty much like Annie had said. Claire nodded and smiled.  
"Sounds perfect."  
"Yeah, I think we also have something like what you want in stock too. One last question what size are you?" Annie asked and stood up.  
"4 to 6" Claire told her and Annie smiled again back at her flashing her pearly white teeth off doom. It was obvious she had got them whitened to the max.

Claire began to watch Annie as she fished through various dresses and pulled them out. She examined them for many minutes shook her head in disbelief and hung it back up. She did this for a good few minutes while Claire and Annie chatted about general nonsense. The weather, when was Claire's wedding etc.

"Ahhh ah!" Annie gasped cutting Claire straight off. "I knew there was one! I think this will be as matched as we can get it. It's also your size."

Annie pulled the dress off the hanger and pulled it out full length so Claire could examine it. Annie was right, it was perfect.

It was a strapless corset white dress which reached the floor, it was lined over the top in see through satin but had a beaded flower design in various places spread out. It had a dark pink belt sewn around the middle with a small pink bow tied at the back, but the ribbon bottoms were as long as the train and blended in perfectly. The train was longer than what Claire had expected but the rest was perfect so she didn't mind and at the bottom edges of the dress it had white lace giving it an elegant but traditional feel.

Claire could feel her eyes water up, she didn't know if it was female hormones kicking in but she knew this was the dress. Now she had to try it on and proof to herself and the assistant it was.

Annie showed Claire to some really posh changing booths which where black and silver inside, with black leather seats. This shop had certainly gone, out all the way with making everything posh and expensive. There was also a huge mirror in there so Claire could see herself in it. Annie followed Claire in to help pull the corset tight at the back and make it flow out the way it was supposed to.

After a good half an hour of Annie trying to perfect the dress so it would look like how it should on Claire wedding dress, they both got to look in the mirror to witness it.

Claire was so surprised at first when she saw herself; she could have sworn it was a different beautiful woman stuck in the mirror looking back at her. It took her several minutes to actually absorb the fact it was her reflection and that it was her, wearing this wonderful dress.

"It's perfect." Annie said out loud bringing Claire back to reality; she gazed in Annie's eyes and smiled in admiration. She had to get this dress, it was meant to be hers. It perfectly clung to her curves and made her look for once in her life like a perfect female. She couldn't wait to picture Leon's face on the wedding day.

"I'll take it." Claire finally answered back; she was still hypnotized with her own reflection. She touched herself to see if the person looking back at her would do the same and it was still a shock when she did.

"That will be thousand dollars please." Annie grinned back, Claire's chin hit the floor.  
"...Whaa?" Claire asked back confusingly, that seemed an awful lot for a dress...

A perfect dress...

Her dress...

"One second I just need to make a phone call." Annie nodded and walked out the changing room leaving Claire to make the phone call.

She grabbed her bag off the leather seats in the changing room and dialled Leon.  
"Hey honey!" Leon answered down the phone "what do you want? You finished already?"  
"It's not quite that..." Claire said gloomily down the phone.  
"What's wrong? You feeling unwell? I can walk up and fetch you home if you want?" He replied back panicked.  
"No, no don't worry baby, it's nothing like that. It's my dress; it's a lot more than I thought." She felt tears coming to her eyes when she said this, she wanted this dress more than anything.  
"Well how much is it?" He asked  
"A thousand bucks."  
"Claire that's fine. Just buy it; I'll just work a few more babysitting shifts with Ashley. Actually that's probably just one." Leon laughed "You know I thought it would have been something more badly than that, thank God."  
"Thanks, you don't know how much it means to me." Claire replied back, now her eyes started to water with joy. She was truly blessed with having such a wonderful fiancée with a big wallet.  
"Speak to you soon future Mrs. Kennedy." He chuckled "Love you!" He then hung up, leaving Claire to either jump with joy or cry with happiness.

"Annie?" Claire asked and the assistant stepped back into the changing room.  
"Yes Miss. Redfield?"  
"Please call me Claire." She laughed "do you take credit card?"  
"Certainly. I tell you what, we will get you out of the dress then you can pay for it." Annie giggled and began to help her out the dress.

* * *

**Authors notes:**

I went to my first real life wedding the other day (not mine!). It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and I feel like I have a lot more inspiration from witnessing it, so I think I can write the wedding (which is yet to come) better than I would of if I didn't go to a one in real life.

This chapter is shorter than the last two I've posted, but I was satisfied with the length so I hope everyone else is too.

I also hope my description for Claire's dress was enough, because that is one of the main important things. Also I come from England not America, so I hope the American sizes for her are correct!


End file.
